High on Spring.

We have been seriously enjoying some nice weather over here.

Spring is in the air and I've been inhaling deeply... one might even say I'm high on life.

I can't help myself.

I love nice weather so much. It makes me all happy. And probably nicer.

If my hubby were smart he'd move us to someplace where it's nice and warm all year long...

Right?

Willow laughs hysterically every. single. time. I push her on the swings.

Like, loud belly laughs.

People turn to look and I catch them all chuckling sooner or later.

I mean, you can't help it, her laughter is contagious.

And the Squish also enjoys the swings!

But she's more of a kick-your-legs-and-squeal sort of swinger.

As you can imagine, when my kids are on the swings, it's a very loud area of the park.

I love my loud and happy kids.

***

Here's another nursery set to share:

Super fun, right?

This was actually my first "theme" bedding set.

(See that jungle print?)

I'll be honest, it was a little tricky finding a jungle print that was girly

and that also

matched green walls.

(These are not the green walls I'm talking about, these are my grey walls that I love dearly.)

I think it all came together really well.

My fave parts of this set would have to be the crib skirt (too long for my crib...)

and the quilt.

It's a string quilt... which I love so much!

And the back:

And a hand-stitched label to finish it off :)

I think that little quote is Irish for "my darling"(?)

For the string quilt, I used the paper-piecing method to make my blocks...

I think I started with 9" squares of freezer paper

and my middle strips of fabric were 2" wide.

I just love a quilt roll...

Wouldn't a whole bookshelf full of rolled quilts be amazing?

Hmmm....

Happy Spring!!

I'm Better.

Well, I'm glad I got that out of my system.

There's nothing like a sunny day, a midday nap and a late-night photo-editing session to cure a case of the blahs.

Am I right?

***

Today was great.

I absolutely love this picture. L-O-V-E-love-it.

The hubby took Willow out on the town so I could take a nap.

It was glorious.

(Naps are so underrated. SO.)

Apparently, he took her to Chuck E. Cheese's

- but he said there was a kid there who smelled like poo-

so they left and went to the park.

Daddy time is Daddy time, no matter what you're doing.

And Willow came back glowing... that's what counts.

***

The weather was nice and springy- finally.

So, of course we had to go and officially celebrate.

With ICE CREAM!!

Willow kept saying,

"I want sprinkles. You know, because it's Spring now. Springkles."

Man, I love her.

***

She's just getting so big...

so fast.

***

I got some more work done on the Big Girl Room/Nursery.

I can't wait to show some pictures.

Just to give you an idea of what we started with:

Yup.

Lots of work.

I've got lots and lots of before and after shots to show.

Oh, and I'm still under budget!!

Yaaaaay me!

***

I just went through and edited a bunch of pics from April,

including Easter,

which I just realized I never even posted about.

And to be quite honest, I may never get to an Easter post.

So, how about I just share my favorite pictures?

I think we all know what happened, right?

There were some Easter egg hunts:

Willow would find and egg, inspect its contents, and move on. Not the fastest egg hunter...

Favorite cousins:

Photo ops:

I also happen to adore this picture. It's like Big Version, Little Version.

And photo ops:

Not a fan of how humongous this dress makes me look, (yeah, like it's the dress), but there are hardly any pictures of me and the hubby during this pregnancy... so there you have it.

And more photo ops:

I can't wait to frame this one. We really need to update our photo wall. It's almost like time stopped or something. Creepy...

Basically, life is good... and I'm better.

Also going up on the photo wall.

I'll have some actual sewing things to post later.

Because I do still do that.

You know... sew.

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Springtime...

There was finally a nice spring-y little something in the air today...

So I just had to open the windows and let it in the house, of course.

It was lovely.

There's nothing like breathing in crisp, fresh air when you're inside your house.

Nothing.

And the way the sun was coming through my front window made me want to get out my camera and play while Willow was napping.

I love old things.

Especially old furniture, old wooden spools of silky thread, and old glassware.

Oh, and velvet things. I like velvet things, too.

I do not like antiques, however.

'Old things' and 'antiques' are not to be confused with each other.

What's the difference?

I don't really know... I couldn't tell you.

But there certainly is a difference.

While I was playing with my old things and my camera, I remembered that I had a new thing to share!

Voila!

The Anjou Spring Dress

I was inspired somewhat by these, which I just love.

But I was mostly inspired by these old things I've been sorting into fun little piles.

Do you ever do that?

Unnecessarily sort things?

I just re-sort and re-organize for no good reason at all... just because.

It makes me happy.

And that awesome fabric just had to be put to good use, right?

And I didn't want to cut it all up... too pretty.

And when it came in the mail Willow shouted,

"For ME? I LOVE it, Mom!"

So, there you have it, the combined inspirations for a fabulous little girl dress.

I just sort of pulled bits and pieces from different dresses I liked to come up with this one.

I guess you could call it somewhat of an experiment.

The bunching of the sheer/mesh yellow polka dot fabric was definitely a new thing for me.

I really loved how it turned out and the texture it added to the dress.

I either got it at a yard sale or on the clearance shelf at a fabric shop because I have lots and lots of it and I don't know why else I would have bought it!

The flower brooch was put together using some raw silk, velvet ribbon, and that pretty little bloom.

And it's detachable for washing :)

I can't wait for Willow to wear this dress out and about!

I also think it would make the perfect Easter dress!

If you don't have your Easter dress yet, don't worry!

I'm still taking orders.

You can order yours using the drop-down menu on the right side of the page.

Or, if you're interested in having something like The Anjou Spring Dress, email me at

willowbeanmama@gmail.com

and we'll whip something up that's one-of-a-kind for your little one!

Go open your windows because Spring is in the air!